The Echidna Guardian
by Spirit Flygon of the Cim
Summary: Based on what I remember of the Sonic the Comic Knux (Comics got thrown out D:) I am writting this despite having no idea what will happen or anything. The snippet at the top though, song vers or line will give a vague idea on what will happen that chapp


The Echidna Guardian  
  
Here I am - this is me There's nowhere else on earth I'd rather be  
  
Bryan Adams, Here I am, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron  
  
My breathing feels harsh, wretched, beaten into a panting state and pouring from my partly opened mouth in mist-tainted gasps. I shiver a little, in perfect match with my husky breathing as wintry sensations begin to swell ebb up my spine, migrating across my torso and limbs like a river's ripple of warning and fear. I clench my teeth tightly with a bitter strike, cursing slightly in an inaudible whisper held tighter still by the increasing tension my body that attempts to quell the chill burning away at my flesh hidden under my seemingly thin layer of velvet crimson that is my fur. Lifting my head in the slightest of movements, my head spines instantly slide back from the flanks of my skull without a question merely the slightest quiver, listening intently for any noise that should prick their interest just as leaves would listen to a breeze in the most rigid of silence. My tail barely moves even in the slightest of strokes that compose motion though to me such little comes as no surprise, not when it is forced against the heavily chipped surface behind my back and pressing on my shoulder blades, the surface that tries to claw away some of my scarlet coated fur and aiding the chill and suspicion that sweeps through me without a thought beyond pure instinct. My jade coloured eyes watch everything in a single glance, never slipping for even a split second knowing the price if they should ever do. My curse, to never rest proves so strong now. Destiny it is for the Guardian, for the echidna, for me.  
  
The endless eternity passes by within a single breath of another; this task was no more than scouting upon my island, testing my limits and sense within every turn and moment my eyes do not fall closed. My face remains unchanged behind its emotionless mask, this despite the unforgivable thankful look that may have tried to penetrate from behind, still fixed without a shred of thought or twitch in movement to show anything. This mask is forever; it is there for a purpose and must continue without an end to conceal everything that lies behind and to keep me from letting even the slightest show slip into a view of another I may encounter, if I ever do. With a quick and swift movement I push away silently with my concealed hands, letting the claws pull effortlessly from the rock in which they gripped to help prevent my fall without disturbing the substance in the slightest. Falling forward, I perform a sight flip within the non existent breath of the current wind's chill, landing back upon the turncoat snow, the substance that can aid and entrap a soul without a care in the crisp smooth white with little notice other than a soft crunch and my legs spring back from the smooth impact they felt. My head spines fall last behind me instantly swinging over my shoulders and back into place within the landing second. Their blunt edges fade from blur, they settle once more in wait and observance, stiffening in the slightest gesture until my moves call them to move once again. My eyes continue to watch on in an endless cycle, letting the shined amethyst note every extract that comes before them and stores forever into memory. The cold no longer breathes, no longer is felt while they are held in place by my gaze. It is these eyes; these senses that will keep my island safe, and my destiny remain true to my heart.  
  
The walk back to the Emerald Chamber takes many an hour but it does not faze me even for a moment, nor should it ever. The cold climate of the area I had just been honing my skills is one of the closest of areas to the emerald shrine yet due to the amount of shadowed cover and bitter wind forever wrapping a figure of azure ice, it is one of the best areas for me to train that I can wander to in my choosing. I am alone here, except for the Emeralds in which are guarded night and day by my own eyes, there is only I who can push my limits and ensure that I am forever ready, only myself and a sealed heart of ancient unbreakable mortar. There is no loneliness here, just the last echidna Mobius who offers his life to protecting one of the most dangerous powers ever to be brought forth. I know of no other way, I cannot object or look for another path, just follow my ancestors before me and guard the creation that binds my existence to this world. It is all that keeps me alive and gives me a purpose to be. Even my voice is no more than a foreign form to e for silence; the emeralds and the shadows are the only creation of significance to me.  
  
And thus the Echidna walks, filled with silence that only a fallen oak could hope to match. His head spines spiralling back and forth in constant motion with his sturdy shoulders that shuffle back and forth below and past them. Their base is held slightly higher than normal; the guardian has his head dipped forward in thought so that they follow suit with the silence. This allows them more freedom yet like him; remain trapped in an endless cycle that never deems a hope to break and change for even the slightest amount that time can provide. His tail is stretched out, only partially bent with a lowered dip to suggest the thought so obvious running across his closed eyes. As blind he may seem trudging through this still thick mesh of old seasons, stone and withered trees, he is actually where his kind has the most advantage, in the dark of another's light. The shadow's are after all the best ally such a creature of crimson coating would ever need, in particular one of such a solitude existence. It is noticeable, if another presence existed of how tense and distraught his muscles are under the smoothed fur, they protrude in such a slight and delicate fashion that only if this were keen eye would spot it if at all. Finally, before leaving him to wander the few, those few more steps from his destination, the white almost crescent like mark stands proud upon his upper chest that can only be seen by this watched on a quick swerve in front of his form upon the arctic like breathing, so fast it would have o be for he misses nothing. This mark is his birthright, what makes him who he is.  
  
The mark of the echidna guardian.  
  
My eyes open once me in a knowing sense of where I now stand, blinking slightly to help adjust to the light being back in my vision. My arms uncross from my chest where I held hem on my journey, not leaving a panting breath visible for the journey had caused none. The chill had subsided long since for here is the edge of the frost's domain, exactly where I wish to be. The russet and drab colours of the stone formations around me come to close at this point, making the area seem almost suffocating with so little visible above them than a pale sapphire coated in softened white blushes on its living canvas. The snow fades to nothing more than a barren surface below my shoes some even diminishing into liquid and slipping down small ruptures in the durable surface. This is not a dead area however, before me lies a giant cylinder covered in ancient markings on the outer surface, one such that in understanding are even lost to myself. The innards seem bleak, dismal, perfect, inviting. Without a second thought, I am advancing into it and disappearing into a fading scarlet blur.  
  
Away, back to where I belong. 


End file.
